Don't Say Goodbye
by AndAllThatMishigas
Summary: Blake Secret Santa 2018: Rose & Charlie. Set after Family Portrait.


**Don't Say Goodbye**

"What do you mean? … Well how much longer? … Six months!? Charlie, why didn't you tell me!? No, never mind, I have to go."

Rose hung up the phone by slamming the receiver down in frustration. Jean came bustling into the kitchen, always seeming to be busy doing something.

"I know you're upset, but please try not to break things that don't belong to you," she scolded lightly as she set about starting the kettle.

"Sorry, Jean," Rose apologized. She sat down at the kitchen table and put her face in her hands, desperately trying not to cry.

"I can give you a cup of tea or a friendly ear or both," Jean offered.

Rose couldn't help but smile as she lifted her head again. "Both, please."

"While the water's heating, why don't we have a chat, hmm?" Jean sat down beside Rose at the table. "I take it you were speaking to Charlie in Melbourne?"

Rose nodded. "He told me at first that his training in Melbourne would only be for a few weeks. And that was fine. We could make that work. He'd come back as a sergeant and it would all be alright. But then when he came to the wedding and saw me dancing with Danny and got all cross. Which is stupid because Danny is lovely, of course, but Charlie and I have so much between us, how could anyone compete with that?"

"Mmm," Jean agreed, listening politely.

"We patched it up while you and the Doc were away on your honeymoon. We've been great ever since. But now he's been called back to Melbourne because there was a temporary position available and it was a great opportunity."

"Yes, he'd said it was going to be a good chance for him to be seen by the higher ups if he's going to be advanced," Jean said with a nod, remembering the letter Charlie had sent while she and Lucien were away.

"Well turns out now he's going to be there for six months. At least. Apparently some Superintendent Jarvis is trying to create a special squad for homicide cases, and he wants Charlie on it. It might turn into a permanent position!" Rose lamented. "And I just don't know what we're supposed to do. I'm here and he's so far away. And we'd been talking about…" She trailed off, not quite ready to say the words out loud.

The kettle sounded and Jean got up to fix the tea. "Rose, I think you have a choice to make," she stated. "You've only lived in Ballarat a short time, and I know you've made a home here, and you know we love you dearly. But you love Charlie, and he's rather far away."

Rose frowned. "So I should give everything up for a man?"

"I didn't say that," Jean replied sharply. "Melbourne is a big city with a lot of opportunities for someone clever and ambitious like you. And with the management changing at the Courier all the time, there might not be any way of knowing your place there in the long run. Maybe there's a paper in Melbourne that might be a better fit. I know it's a lot to risk, jumping in and starting something new, but I think if anyone can do it, it's you. You just have to decide that the risk is worth the reward."

"And Charlie's the reward?"

"If you think he is. That's what matters, Rose. It matters what you think and if you love him enough to make sacrifices for the happiness that the two of you could share."

Rose sat quietly for a moment, sipping her tea. Jean really was very wise. She hadn't lived as easy a life as she seemed to portray. There was a lot more to her than what most people could see—or what she would let most people see. There had to be, for housekeeper Jean Beazley to catch worldly Doctor Blake's eye. Surely Jean had made sacrifices of her own for the Doc. And they were happier than Rose had ever seen two people be. They'd returned from their honeymoon just a few weeks before, all smiles and joyful laughter. And if Rose and Charlie could have even a bit of that for themselves, wouldn't that all be worth it?

It was all decided in a whirlwind. Rose up and quit at the Courier the next day, taking samples of her articles with her. The editor at the time had only been there three weeks, the fourth one Susan Tyneman had hired since Edward and Patrick's deaths; none of them had stuck yet, so Rose wasn't too broken up about leaving.

Doctor Blake drove her to Melbourne himself. Jean sent them off with a hug and a kiss on the cheek and some sandwiches for them both. Rose rode the whole way fidgeting her hands, worrying if she'd made some horrible mistake. But deep in her heart, she knew that this was what she was supposed to do. She and Charlie were supposed to be together. She and Charlie would figure it out. She and Charlie would find their way to be happy.

She rang the bell at his address, praying his schedule hadn't changed from the last time she'd spoken to him the week before. Lucien was waiting by the car to help carry her cases and to say hello to Charlie himself.

Charlie came to answer the door with bare feet and his shirt unbuttoned. He obviously hadn't been expecting company. "Rose!" he greeted in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I realized that I sort of hung up on you when we spoke last. And I didn't say goodbye. And I just…Charlie, I don't want to say goodbye. Ever."

He looked at her with wide eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I quit my job and the Doc's got everything I own shoved in the back of the car. So if you're going to be in Melbourne, so am I," Rose said resolutely.

Charlie was at a complete loss. "You…you're gonna move here? For me? Why?"

Rose just laughed. "Because I love you and I'm hoping that you love me and we can get married."

And with that, well, Charlie had no other choice. He pulled Rose into his arms and kissed her with everything he had. In the background, he could hear Lucien's bark of joyful laughter.

Charlie pulled back, breathing a bit heavily. "I've gotta get you a ring," he realized aloud.

"I don't need some silly bauble," Rose protested.

"Yes you do," he insisted, pulling her back to kiss her again.

Rose let him kiss her, right there on the doorstep to his flat, in plain view. She didn't have any qualms about public displays of affection the way Charlie usually did, so she reveled in his bravery now. He loved her, he wanted to marry her, and they'd work everything out together. Because they'd be together. She'd never have to say goodbye to him ever again.


End file.
